Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/141027
Flying Finn Take N N '" C> ~ Q. N .... '" 6 DeCoster still leads in points M . ::; > By S traw b e rry Enterprises Volney H owar d Story , Terry Pra tt Photos PA YER!'\E, SWITZERLA:,>D, April 30, 19 72 - Pe r haps in sp ired by ncar-perfect race conditions on the grassy hillsides of Switzerland. I1usqvama factory rider, l leik k i Mikko la, the Finn with the fire plug physique. served notice to World Champions Ro ge r DeCoster, Bengt Aberg and last year's ru nne r up A ke J on sson , that he was th e man to beat fo r the 19 72 wo rld ti tle. From ye t another comer of th e pi ts . two you ng Am eri can s, Rob Grossi and Mar k Blackwe ll pu t as ide any d o ubts tha t Americans cou ld race w ith the wo rld's best w ith brillian I rid es in their second Grand P rix start. ~ w Z W ...J U >- U pack. Mikkola , meanwhile , mad e short wo rk of the Russian and Jonsson and after a brief duel blasted by Adolf Weil and began clawing up the gap left by Aberg. By the halfway mark , Xlikkola had made up the margin and slipped by a tiring Aberg w ith an case that suggested the course was b uilt to th e Finnish ri der's speci fications. !\' ow DeC os ter came up at a ligh ln ing pace to challenge J o n sson w ith Friedric hs close be h ind. A I the c rest of a terrible d ownh ill wit b a ten foo t lip, Ro ger . in typical DeC ost er style , got air borne . pi tch ed it sideways, to uc he d do wn , b an ged in to th ird gear an d fle w past Jonsso n"as if the Ma ico wer e on th e kicks ta nd. R oger p itch ed it p ar allel to 1972 Motorcycle Competition Guidebook for California (f irst editio n publ ished by CYCLE NEWS, lnc .) 10,000 names and ridi ng numbers! including A MA Nat ional numbers. A MA Dist rict 36 & 37 MX, Enduro, Scrambles & Desert numbers. Plus Calendar of Events for 1972 ! District 35 & 38 Earned Num bers. A MA Nat ional poi nts scoring tabl e. COMPLETE CMC rider num bersto dat e. ACA , Trials Clubs, AF M, CERA, HRA, USMRC, Sidehack & Speedway Racing Associat io n names & numbers. Hei ki Mi kkol a, Sw iss GP vic tor. served not i ce on t he 500 class World Champ ionship contenders. PLUS comple te Californ ia CLUB GUID E and much , MUCH MORE. Send for your copy NOW Your complete program for all 1972 California Amateur and Professional races! , - -- (cu t out an d ma il today)--- - r @ CYCLE NEWS PRODUCTS P.O. Box 498 Long Beach, Calif. 90801 \ T he pi cturesqu e scene was vio la ted on ly by th e c rackle o f 5 0 h o rsep ower tw o stro kes as tb e fie ld o f fifty nudge d to w ard th e st a rtin g ga te. Twenty th ousan d fans cro wd ed to see th e w orld's b est st re ak ac ross tb e sta rt stra igh t tb rowi n g 20 fo ot ro oste r tails an d b an gin g cases in to th e firs t tum. It w as 1970 World C h a mpio n Ben gt Ab erg w it b a big lead ove r West German Maico p ilo t, Ado lf Weil, A ke J on sson, Ru ssian Krasn och tc hekov on a CZ, an d fas t movi ng Il eikki Mik kol a . As the pack began to str ing out over the very fast an d d usty two mile circuit, A berg contin ued stretching his lead wi th an un believable exh ibition of speed . Roger DeCoster, the p re-race favorite, had h is S uzuki b ack in 12 th spot suffering a poor s tar t. By lap five he bad kn ifed his way tbrough throat-clogging dust and the likes of Pau l Friedrichs and Willi Bayer to fifth position. Also suffering from poor starts, Californians Grossi and Black well moved up steadily f ro m t he back of the tbe gro u n d o n the 45 d egree b an ked tu rn a t t he b otto m an d he w as gon e lik e a ru mor. Nearing the end of tb e firs t m ota Ma rk an d Bo b we re ru nning nose t o ta il weedi n g th eir w ay up t o 16th an d 17th in a b a ttle wi th two Rus sian CZ rid ers an d Cze ch star J iri St odulka . A fte r th efirst rna to ,' Grossi rema rk ed, "Did you sec m e sm o ke th e tw o Russi an s o n the sw e ep er ? 1t w as b oss. " Attb e end o f th e firs t 40 mi n ute h eat it was Mik k o la firs t . DeC o st er second . Aberg, Weil and Friedrichs with.J onsson sixth. Blackwell and Grossi finished 16th a nd 17th re spectively w it b veteran USA rnotocrosscr Brian Ke n ny 23rd st il1 adapting to a new ~laieo , While 50 dustcaked , exhausted riders , reste d , the su pport race sidebacks were given 30 minutes and 70 horsepower to gouge cavernous pock marks in the already treacherous circui t making the downhills a nightmare . In the second heat it was Adolf \I'ci l wh o ricocheted on to the ma in straight _ ' i Please rush my copy(s) of t he 19 72 Mot o rcy cle \ Competi tio n G ui d eb ook f or Ca lifo rnia . I en close $1 f or each copy . .NAME I --------:---- - - - - -l -- IIIII!I- _ R1 A DD RESS CITY _ STATE Z IP SAT ISF AC T I ON CO-A A NTEED OR YOUR MONEY BACK _ ------ - - - - - - - - - --- - - - - --------------- Blac kwe ll too k a 16 th in th e fir st rno t o, unl oaded and spra ined his wr ist in the second .